Northwich RUFC (Team of the Town)”
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Author: John Blower April 2016 All Proceeds to the RFU Injured Players Foundation The reader will hopefully appreciate the great time and effort put in by John Blower in the creation of this condensed history of the club. John has been closely associated with the senior side and readers are asked to forgive the omission of detailed history of our Junior and Mini sections and of course our successful Ladies and Girls sides. But most of all I hope that readers will donate generously to the RFU Injured Players Charity Foundation an organisation which has served John well and continues to do good work for those suffering unfortunate injuries in this sport which we love. Thank you. Edited by Warren Davies 1 Introduction This book is a condensed history of the club now known as Northwich Rugby Union Football Club written by our own John Blower. Northwich RUFC formerly known as Mid-Cheshire College RUFC (MCC) was established in 1964 as a casual team playing on an ad-hoc basis, the book traces its journey from a semi organised bunch of friends to the highly organised club outfit of today playing in level 6 in the RFU league system. The RFU Injured Players Foundation (IPF) is to benefit from the sales of this publication. The author John Blower is one of the IPF’s clients. John, a long serving player and club member of Northwich RUFC, suffered catastrophic spinal injuries playing in a 1st team league match against local rivals Warrington RUFC in 2003 and has since been assisted by the IPF. The RFU IPF provides support and information to those who sustain a catastrophic injury as a result of participating in rugby union, to empower them to lead as full and independent a life as they are able to. RFU IPF protects and supports the rugby family. Their work includes injury prevention research, education and training to keep everyone safer on the field of play, they also provide lifetime support to all players (and their families), who have suffered a catastrophic injury. The IPF also works with all stakeholders to reduce the risk of these and other injuries in the game. The IPF is there for every seriously injured player, from international players, right through to the grassroots game, including schools and universities across England. 2 Contents Foreword Chapter 1 1960’s “The Early Years” Chapter 2 1970’s “Clubhouse, Beer & Players” Chapter 3 1980’s “Dedication & Fitness reap rewards” Chapter 4 1990’s “Northwich RUFC (Team of the Town)” Chapter 5 2000’s “The road to Twickenham” Chapter 6 2010’s “Slow, but steady progress” Chapter 7 2015 “Back to the Future” 3 Foreword Little did I know where Mid-Cheshire College RUFC, now Northwich RUFC was going to when I started it with John Chappell in 1964. This was done with the help of a number of equally enthusiastic and naïve friends. I don’t think we believed it would aspire to the heights it has today, in what is a relatively short history. As then, I believe today, it’s just a stepping stone to greater things. In those early days, only 3 members of the club had access to telephones never mind a phone at home. Indeed whoever had a home phone was often made captain; a kind of bush telegraph operated and with half the team living in Runcorn and the other in Northwich, you can only imagine how relevant selection meetings were. Looking back we appear to have approached every aspect of developing the club with the formation of a sub-committee, indeed we had sub- committees of sub- committees. The confusing thing being was the same names formed all the committees but with different roles. Does this sound familiar today? In the early days of proposing the 2nd team with our level of playing membership it was necessary to play all the games on Saturday mornings. This enabled us to use half the players to turn out a full team in the afternoon for the 1st team fixture. How often today do we hear the phrase “they’re playing too much, it’s burning them out”. 1979 was probably the most significant milestone on the field in the clubs history with the appointment of Roger Blake as coach. From this point the club became a more disciplined and organised rugby set-up. Henceforth, a much business-like and professional attitude came into play, turning into the significant and respected force it now enjoys in rugby circles. John Langston (Founder member) 4 Chapter 1 1960’s “The Early Years” Rugby football is a game I can’t claim to fully understand, I know the main aim is to work the ball down the field somehow and deposit it over the line at the other end. In order to do this each side is allowed to put in a certain amount of assault and battery and do things to their fellow-man, which if done elsewhere would result in fourteen days without option. All players should learn the laws; while this theory is agreed all round it is highly improbable that such a state of bliss will ever be achieved. For example how much ground is lost and how much morale is sapped by someone getting offside at kicks, if forwards whose services are not required in lineouts knew how far back they must go, if all players knew, backs included recognised the difference between ruck and maul and what it means with regard to handling the ball. Mind you, it would be a pity if all uncertainty were removed, as spectators fun would go too. J D Campbell (President) This story starts in 1965 when John Chappell, a lecturer at the College, thought he could form a Rugby club rather than play as a casual team. He gathered his players from Northwich students plus a strong contingent from the Runcorn/Widnes area and managed to play 18 games in the first season. At the first AGM in May 1966 the secretary claimed that it had been a successful first season because they had won 6 games. For those interested in money matters the annual subscription was 10/- (50p) and the match fee was 1/6 (7.5p) The members of the Club start to flex their muscles at the end of their second season and suggest removing the word College from the Club title. This proposal, not surprisingly, does not succeed; for many years to come the continued existence of the Club will depend on the support of the College. John Chappell demonstrates great skill in persuading the College authorities to provide all the following services free of charge, changing rooms and showers at the College, provision of shirts and socks, laundry of playing kit, rugby balls and pitch side flags, and most importantly a pitch at Moss Farm located where the Nalfloc office now stands. Training sessions were also held in the College gym, overseen by John who also acted as coach and referee for all home games. There is some concern about the facilities provided for entertaining visitors after the home games. The solution is to approach the Coachman at Hartford for a room from 5:00pm; presumably the players were encouraged to walk from Moss Farm to the College, change and shower slowly to fill in the time between the end of the game and opening time. There are other suggestions to deal with the problem but they are not adopted such as ask the College canteen to supply sandwiches and tea, ask girl-friends to supply refreshments on a rota basis (there aren't enough wives to rate a mention yet). Players are starting to bring forward complaints that will occur again and again at future AGMs, players are not paying their annual subscriptions and they are arriving late for home and away games. In spite of the complaints the players are looking to the future; the Club has applied to join the Cheshire RFU and the English RFU and will consider forming a 2nd XV as soon as the Club has 30 players. The first request for a clubhouse comes up but John Chappell advises patience; there are limits to what he can squeeze out of the College. However the AGM squeezes John into the job of Vice-Chairman; this is puzzling because he is already Chairman but he is elected anyway. 5 The players are still arriving late for matches but the captain and vice-captain are made responsible for bringing water and oranges to the matches. Although the secretary dutifully records the resolution in the minutes of the AGM, the captain and vice-captain carry on as before and ignore the resolution. 1968/69 Season, the Club asks John Chappell to arrange fixtures for a 2nd XV and with luck a team will become available. This is an unlikely way to acquire new players and no 2nd XV games take place as a result. The organisation of the players from the Northwich end is becoming disorganised. This is presumably in addition to turning up late for games and not paying their annual subscriptions. In an attempt to tighten up the organisation, each player is required to inform the secretary of his address. The proposal to form a Club committee from volunteers might make a difference - if anybody would volunteer. Derek Campbell, the College principal, agrees to become the Club's first President. 6 Chapter 2 1970’s “Clubhouse, Beer & Players” “I’ve been pleased to see so many members training since mid-June, showing their enthusiasm and dedication.